


Work Book

by Cptkitten



Category: Slayers (Anime & Manga)
Genre: .....ever, F/M, First posted fic, Language, Mostly Gen, Pre-Relationship, hints at shipping, i intend to take this ship to sea, introspective fluff, more than hints at shipping, self imposed barriers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-29 02:01:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7666045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cptkitten/pseuds/Cptkitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One shots! Generally unconnected, but not a rule. Mostly exercises in just writing things and posting them. More to come, they should get better with time. Watch a grown-assed woman learn how to contribute to online fandom!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Untouchable

Isn't it strange, how you can get used the way things are?

Amelia sat in the blazing sunshine where her friends had decided to take a break. A grassy hill beside the road made an excellent spot to rest up before continuing the walk to the next town. The general atmosphere was pleasant and light but Amelia had heavier thoughts on her mind.

Propped up and leaning back on her arms, Amelia let her eyes drift to a blue hand in the grass beside her. It felt like she'd been doing this for years. Even when he was so close to her, he seemed so far away. As if there were an impenetrable wall between them. She wasn't sure how to break it down.

It had only been a year and some change since she had met him. So much was different now. She'd warmed up to him, gotten past his appearance, come to really like him, felt ashamed of her initial feelings, and was now ready to bury her embarrassment and hesitation and embrace her feelings for him.

Hopefully, this would involve embracing HIM.

Ugh, but this WALL! She glanced over at him, his eyes closed and his head tilted back. He was beautiful. She wanted to reach out and touch him. To let him know that she was here, that she was with him. She was so focused on him that she was ignoring what Miss Lina was talking about. Amelia kept pressing at the imaginary wall between her and Zelgadis.

As long as she'd known him, there had been a sort of unspoken rule- and sometimes, she supposed, spoken as well- that he didn't like being touched. He said that it was because he couldn't feel it, but she had watched him long enough to know better. He could feel a touch. Maybe not as clearly as someone with regular skin could, but he could feel. He just hated it.

After long hours thinking about it, Amelia had narrowed the possibilities down to the most likely. He probably didn't like being reminded. He was probably ashamed of his thick, cursed skin. It was easier to hide how very different it was from normal human skin if no one ever touched him.

And maybe she was wrong! Maybe he really COULDN'T feel anything. Maybe it was something else entirely. Maybe he didn't like the contact at all. But as his friend, and secretly, as someone who cared deeply for him, she wanted to touch him. People weren't meant to go through their lives without physical contact. She wanted to reach across the distance and wrap her arms around him and offer him all the love she had to give. She wanted to know for sure if he didn't want to be touched at all, or if he could like to be touched by her.

But how, now, that he'd set the precedent of being untouchable?

Amelia felt something deep in her heart rumble. It felt different. It reminded her of her sister, in a way. A bubble of rebellious energy rose and caught in her throat. Anything could be impossible if you let it be. How things ARE could not be how things were forever. Some boundaries were worth pushing.

Before she could back down, Amelia reached out- temporarily fearless- and put her hand on top of his.

Zelgadis reacted immediately. He jerked and his eyes snapped open, turning straight to her. He seemed completely surprised, but not angry. Not a shred of distaste. Amelia felt her heart soar. "Amelia?" he asked. "What is it?"

Fireworks burst in her chest, showering joy all through her body. Having his eyes on her, touching him, finally punching through a stupid fake wall that had only existed in her head. Why had she waited? She smiled brightly up at him and took her time in answering. Whatever she came up with wasn't really important. What mattered was that anything that worked once could work again, and she could gladly work with taking his hand every now and then.


	2. Talk Dirty To Me

Parade floats, though lovely to look at and fun to ride, were decidedly dull to make. Amelia fluffed out her seventy eighth paper flower and dropped it in a bin with the rest. Stacks of colored paper surrounded her and her fellow victim. Honestly, how many hours of her life could she possibly spend being suckered into menial labor by Lina Inverse?

Amelia allowed herself a heavy sigh and turned to her companion. "I understand why Miss Lina volunteered us to help prepare for the parade, but did she have to tell the mayor we would work for free?"

Zelgadis didn't seem particularly bothered by their fate. He mindlessly folded flower after flower. "If this is the price we have to pay to get into his private magic library, so be it." His glazed expression sharpened for a moment. "But if it turns out to be something useless again like those damn festival songs, I might set fire to the float, though."

A giggle slipped past Amelia's frown, breaking it into a smile. She reached for another piece of paper. "Oh Mister Zelgadis, I don't think that- shit."

Amelia stopped short. She looked down at her finger where she had just given herself a paper cut. Though small, it quickly welled up and dripped, staining the white page she was working with. She popped her finger in her mouth and crumpled the sheet to toss into the trash bin. Leaning back in her seat, Amelia took another look at her finger to see if it had stopped bleeding. "Sorry. Anyway, I..."

This was when Amelia realized that Zelgadis had stopped folding his flowers and was gaping at her, wide eyed and silent. Worried by his expression, she looked at her finger again, thinking it must be bleeding quite heavily to garner such a reaction. No, her finger was fine, hardly even noticeable after the first gush. She looked around for what could have caused his shock, but found nothing. When she slowly started to turn to check behind her, Zelgadis finally cracked.

"Amelia, since when do you use that sort of language?"

Oh.

The princess deflated in her seat, a bit disappointed. "Mister Zelgadis, I've traveled with Lina 'swearing is how I let my friends know that I'm still breathing' Inverse since I was fourteen years old. Have you really never heard me swear before?"

This only seemed to unsettle him even more. He brought a hand up to his chin in a motion that would be quite endearing if it weren't so misplaced. Zelgadis floundered to defend himself. "It's just that you were so young and righteous when we first met, and you're... you know... the princess of the white magic capitol of the world? Doesn't it seem a bit out of character to you?"

Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, youngest daughter of the crown prince of Seyruun, self proclaimed champion of justice, high ranking white and shamanistic magic specialist, survivor of the back end of puberty in the presence of gods and demons, beloved symbol of her people and more than likely the future queen of the most influential nation in the world, debated very briefly with herself about how best to handle the situation.

She leaned forward, holding his eyes in a locked stare, letting the tension build. Just before he was sure to break, she struck.

"Shit."

Zelgadis sputtered and jerked his leg in surprise, almost upsetting a bin of paper flowers. "A-A _me_ lia!" He was too affronted to say anything else.

Just what she wanted.

Amelia held eye contact, unblinking, but felt her lips begin to curl up in a devilish grin. "Mister Zelgadis." She drank in his panic. " _Shit._ "

He was really losing it now. He clapped a hand to his mouth to cover up the noises coming out, but it was clear that he was giggling from his eyes, his cheeks, and his shuddering breaths. She had him cornered.

Amelia took a measured breath and let her glee show in her eyes. Timing must be perfect for the third strike. Just as Zelgadis was pulling his hand away and getting himself under control, she delivered the final blow.

"Shit, shit, SHIT!"

Bulls-eye! Zelgadis, unable to handle the full assault, threw his head back and laughed out loud, one hand on his chest and the other clutching his knee. Amelia let her own laughter at her histrionics cover the pure joy of seeing him fall apart. He laughed long and hard, going on until he began to curl in on himself trying to catch his breath.

Still shaking with giggles, he wiped at his streaming eyes and finally regained a fragment of his composure. "Amelia." He took a shuddering breath. "You are far more trouble than I give you credit for."

Just before the rush of that statement could truly sink into her heart, the door burst open and a red headed problem walked in. "So! How are those flowers coming along?"

Amelia didn't have time to count backwards from ten and review how good a friend Lina Inverse was and how much it meant to be partners in justice with her. She only saw the most attractive man she'd ever met turn his eyes- eyes that had just been focused on her, seeing her and acknowledging her- away and the debonair smile start to leave his face. Her mouth was already on a mission and it didn't consult with her brain before responding.

"Fuck."

She would then have the length of two gasps heard in stereo, a beautiful man full out laughing for the second time in two minutes, and a long winded hypocritical lecture on proper language to think about what she'd done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When a pretty person says her name just like THAT, how is a good girl supposed to play nice?


End file.
